2016-06-12

As I type this, the third period is underway in San Jose, CA. The Penguins have a 2-1 lead and just need to hold onto that lead for three more minutes (until the final buzzer) and they win the Stanley Cup.

There were four Western Conference divisional semifinal series, and I predicted the Dallas Stars would defeat the Minnesota North Stars Wild in 5 games. They took six. So let's put my efficiency for that series (and the playoffs in total) so far at 83%. I also correctly predicted that the St Louis Blues would defeat the Chicago Blackhawks in seven games. That puts my in-series efficiency at 100%, and so splitting the difference over two series I was at 92% accuracy. Pretty good, eh? Yeah, I went downhill fast from there. San Jose beat the Los Angeles Kings, while the Nashville Predators beat the Los Angeles Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. That's two 0% efficiency series, dropping me fast to 46% efficiency.

In the second round, I said the St. Louis Blues would defeat the Dallas Stars in 4 games, and they also took the full 7. That series is 57% accurate, and I'm at 0% again in the other western series: I didn't think Nashville or San Jose would even be in there. Finally, in the Western Conference Final I correctly identified the Blues would lose in 6 games though I obviously got their opponent wrong. 50% accuracy there, let's say.

There are a total of 7 series in each conference, and my efficiency was 83,100,0,0,57,0,50, for a Western Conference accuracy rate of 43%.

Eastern Conference:

Again, four opening series in the first round. I first predicted that Washington would defeat Philadelphia in only 5 games, it again took six giving me 83% efficiency. I predicted the NY Rangers would defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins in 7 games, and obviously Pittsburgh did slightly better than that. I did correctly predict that the NY Islanders would defeat the Florida Panthers in 6 games. I also correctly predicted that the Tampa Bay Lightning would defeat the Detroit Red Wings, though my accuracy was only 71% as I thought it would take 7 games rather than 5.

In the second round I predicted the Washington Capitals would be defeated, though I obviously got both the opponent (Pittsburgh, not New York) and the number of games (6, not 5) wrong, for a 42% efficiency rating. I did guess the number of games right in the other series, but I thought that the Islanders would defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning rather than the other way around for a 0% efficiency rating. Finally, I was 0% in the conference final since I had both teams completely wrong.

For the 7 games in the Eastern Conference, therefore, my efficiency was 83,0,100,71,42,0,0, for an Eastern Conference accuracy of 42%.

League-wide:

I predicted that the Los Angeles Kings would defeat the New York Rangers in 6 games, scoring a total of only 19 goals. Instead, 26 goals have been scored already with 3:01 time left in Game 6, and obviously neither team was present making my guess 0% for the final as well. With 15 series to play, I averaged 39% efficiency with my predictions.

2016-06-06

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet reportedly discussed the issue last week, and while no formal decision was taken, one top-level official said: “They have made up their minds and are working on the right narrative to support it.”

Rather than a full replacement of the air force’s aging CF-18 fighter fleet, it’s believed the purchase will be labelled an interim measure to fill what Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan has warned is a pending “gap” in Canada’s military capabilities.

The Liberals promised during the election campaign not to buy the F-35 to replace the CF-18s. But the government has been struggling with how to fulfill that promise for fear any attempt to exclude the stealth fighter from a competition will result in a multi-billion-dollar lawsuit, according to one senior Defence Department official.

Justin's retarded government is discovering that in the real world -- that mythical realm that he and his social-justice-warrior MPs know nothing about -- formal agreements are binding, and that there are consequences to actions. You can't just agree to something and then decide when far-left weenies worry about that natural order of things (to wit: Muslims murdering other Muslims) to negate the agreement you've already made.

More importantly (for their Ottawashed lifestyles), they're finding that every now and then the press calls them out on their endless lies and bullshit.

Liberal suggestions that Canada’s CF-18s are on their last legs appear to have come out of nowhere, after the previous Conservative government announced in 2014 that it was upgrading the CF-18s so they could continue to operate through 2025. That $400-million initiative was intended to buy the government time to make the right decision on a replacement.